Photo Credit: Canada Soccer
Three Things We’ve Learned from Canada’s Olympic Games
By Canada crashed out of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in the quarter-final stage against Germany, putting an early end to a Gold Medal defence that was fraught with dramatics.
Now that the dust has settled and the Olympic cycle has concluded in France, let’s look over what we have learned from Canada’s emotional and tumultuous Olympic campaign.
#1: Canada’s Defence Is One of the Best
If we put away the background commotion that occured during the games (for now) and just look at the matches in themselves, Canada had an excellent group stage to start the tournament. They were in difficult group against the hosts France, the dark horses of the previous World Cup Colombia, and a firey New Zealand side. Nevertheless, they won all three of their matches.
A large part of their success in the group stage was due to their resilient defence, with Canada having some of their players playing at the top of their game. The back three of Jade Rose, Vanessa Gilles, and Kadeisha Buchanan were near impenetrable throughout the tournament. Rose, still only 21 and still playing at the collegiate level, played like a seasoned veteran against some of the world’s best. Her one-on-one defensive game has improved massively and few were able to get past her on her side due to her presence, physicality and tackling.
Gilles was perhaps Canada’s Player of the Tournament, not only due to her two clutch game-winning goals against France and Colombia, but also for her leadership. The Quebec-native led by example in how she played, relentless and impassioned by the circumstances surrounding the team. She thrived in hounding the opposition’s attack and kick-starting attacks after winning back possession. Buchanan was perhaps the quietest of the three, but for her part, that was largely due to her performing consistently at the level we have come to expect of her in the last few years. She tackled, tracked and dealt with danger with a focus and efficiency that made it look nothing if not natural for the Chelsea player.
All three defenders established themselves not only as Canada’s set backline for the next few years, but one of the strongest in the game. With Rose likely having her pick of the lot in offers once she graduates from college, her abilities will only become exponentially greater while Gilles and Buchanan will continue to refine their game as they get older. All in all, It bodes well for Canada to have such a solid backline as they switch gears to prepare for the 2027 World Cup.
#2: Depth Is Strong But Lacking Tactical Stability
Another major factor for Canada’s success was due to the quality that they had off the bench. Players like Evelyne Viens, Gabrielle Carle, Simi Awujo and Janine Beckie were crucial for Canada, all at different times and in different capacities. In almost all three group stage games, the tide was turned in Canada’s favour after they called upon their bench to help them out. Viens came up with clutch in the first game against New Zealand, while Beckie was the spark that was needed for the game against France. Time and time again we saw the injection of ability change the match for Canada in this competition, and it demonstrated how truly spoiled the nation is in terms of quality players.
However, that luxury can also become a double-edged sword. For it makes it harder for the coaching team to be able to find the right balance and selection for any given match. It makes it even harder for an interim Head Coach like Andy Spence to make those calls on who to start and how, given all that was at stake. That led the way to some tactical blunders that made Canada suffer a bit more than they perhaps wanted to. In the games against France and Germany, Spence opted for a midfield three instead of the classic 3-4-3 that Canada had been running for quite some time now. The idea was clear, although for different reasons across both games. For France, it was to try to match France’s own midfield three and to not allow themselves to get overwhelmed in the central channels. Contrastly, for Germany, it was to take advantage of a loosely put-together German midfield that had been plagued by major absences and dominate the central channels. Again, great calls in theory.
The problem was that they did not end up achieving their intended purposes, and also came at the cost of one of Canada’s major strenghts when attacking, which is their wide play. In the 3-4-3, they have the ability to overload the wide areas with the quality of their forward wingers and their wingbacks. That’s where players like Ashley Lawrence, Cloe Lacasse, Gabrielle Carle and Janine Beckie thrive more than anywhere. Canada’s movement and execution down those wings is what makes them so dangerous. But when switched to a 3-5-2 where the only width is the two wing-backs, it clipps the wings of that potent attack. And in the end, that is what occurred in those two matches.
Despite matching both teams in the midfield, Canada’s central players were unable to grab a hold of the match as intended. Against both oppositions, the midfielders were bypassed and struggled to connect the defence to the attack. Part of this was because they were accustomed to playing with various wide players that made runs and movements that both created the space for the mdifielders, adn also gave them the options for the pass. Without those wide overloads, the midfielders were stunted in how they played. That then allowed France and Germany to win the ball back and cause Canada problems. Both times Spence had to re-adjust and go back to the two-person midfield. At least for France, it was the first time the tried it and had to learn the hard way about the issues that it causes.
But in the Quarter-Final, many fans’ frustrations then became about, if it did not work against France, why try it against Germany? Spence, in his defence, had his reasons, as outlined earlier. Having a strong midfield three is a key feature of how the best teams play in both Men’s and Women’s football. But for Canada, at least in the way it was executed, it came at too big a cost for them to try that. Moving forward, Canada will need to try to find a way to balance wanting to control the midfield while also prioritizing their strengths out wide.
https://x.com/BenSteiner00/status/1819823311578112492
#3: Dronegate Shows Canada Continues to Be Their Own Worst Enemy
Now that the two major footballing points are out of the way, the elephant in the room must be addressed. For all the good work and mistakes that were prevalent on the pitch in this tournament, they were all massively overshadowed by what was going on off the pitch. The drone scandal that broke days before the opening match set the tone for what was to come in a hellish week for the player’s psyche.
“We haven’t slept in the last three days, we’ve barely eaten, we’ve been crying. I wouldn’t say they’re exactly ideal performing situations,” said an emotional Gilles after the match against France. At that point, the drone matter had reached a boiling point. They had been deducted six-points in the group stage, two members of staff had been fired while then-Head Coach Bev Priestman had been suspended and sent home after Canada Soccer inquiried into the debacle. It was later revealed that their suspension of Priestman was due to her alleged knowledge and long-standing practice of using drones to spy on oppositions. Regardless of whether one may think such a practice is a serious offence or not, or even one that is worthy of such drama given its allusion to being used by many teams before, the incident massively damaged Canada’s reputation, mentality and hopes going into the tournament. But even still, the team persevered.
The point deduction made it an almost impossible mountain to climb for Canada to make it out of the group stages, but the team did it. The betrayal from the coaching staff could have broken the team’s spirit, but they kept going. The vitriol and ridicule from the press and social media could have prevented them from focusing on the task at hand, but they managed to overcome it. They once again showed that they can succeed in the face of adversity, and win in spite of their federation’s own misgivings. More than anything, this tournament demonstrated the strength in character and unity that this team has to have been able to perform as they did. Few teams can claim to have made it out of the group stages under such dire circumstances. Even less could have done it by winning all three games.
Perhaps that is why, when it came to the match against Germany, the team had little left to give. They had gone through a tormenting time throughout the group stage, and by the time they faced the Germans, reserves were low and the players exhausted. Even still, they managed to take Germany, who are fourth in the world, to penalties. Another showing of tireless determination.
But lessons must be learned from this whole endeavour. Canada cannot keep putting massive distractions and obstacles in the way of its own team’s success. With the new era of Kevin Blue, Jesse Marsch and whichever coach ends up replacing Priestman in the coming weeks or months, the federation will look to shed its bad habits from year’s past. But they must not forget them. They must learn from these mistakes to ensure that they do not happen again.
As the old adage goes, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And with the Men’s World Cup on the horizon that gives the opportunity for Canada as a soccer nation to rise to the next level, failure to learn is simply not an option.
